William dieteb



W.' DIETER.

v TORPEDO DEPTH GEAR. APPLICATION FILED Nov. 30, 1920.

Pan'd Feb. 22,1921.

mw/T V n.0

55 y l boxes at opposite .ends of/the depth engine,

j.' WILLIAM piers-.apos BacoizLYiv, ivnwYoi-tx.

To @ZZ whom -z't-mag/ conce/m.'-

citizen of the .United States offAmerica, re-' siding in the borough of Brooklyn, `-county of Kings, city and State ot' vNew York, have invented certain new` and useful Improvements in Torpedo Depth-Gears, oiwhichv the'fcllowing isa specification. y

This invention relates to aniniproveinent applicable to the depth gear or depth en gine of an automobile torpedo, lthe'purpose of whichv is to correct therexisting tendency of. a torpedo to dive at the `end of a practice run, which oftens-results in thef'loss of the torpedo. Y

Many torpedoesl are lost' after practiceruns because they fail to come tothe s ur-y face. When the air is shut ott at the end of. the run the torpedo drops inspeed veryy rapidly, ooiningdown from 30to 20 knots within ahalf second. Thiscausestliependulum of the depth steering. gear to swing for-ward at irst, .which .of itself tends tto give an up rudder which would* cause the torpedo to steer upward; but this is followed instantly by the'recoil swing of thependulum,= which (with fthe; diaphragm of..v the depth gear in a1 vposition of equilibrium) `gives thedown'V rudder, andas ,the torpedo lstill is under considerable speed, this causes -it to quickly steer downward, so that in shallow water it is liable to buryits vnose in the mud lying on the bottom andbe stuckv tast; lf this isV averted the buoyancy ot the torpedo Awill in timeibring it to the sur At the next instant again i Yswingsforward, due to the nose of the tor-.

pedo being inclined downward, which should causelanup rudder, which will tend to bring. the torpedo toward the surface; but in actual practice this is defeated by .the'fact that the air having-been cut olf, the steer` ing .engine ceases to' function about this time and-consequently it fails vto .turn the rudder up and leaves the torpedo headed down. In torpedoesV as built, the 'eortn'is to provide for this failure to steer by the introduction cfa 1 breaching spring -1 which tendsk constantly totiirn the rudder up, and

which is supposedto act when the steering enginel ceases. to unctiom-so as to'fleave the.-

rudder upturned; but'in actual .practice it often happens vthat theibroaching spring fails to overcome the frictionI of the stuiiing Y `Specizticartio'n of Letters Patent. Appiitationniea November' 3o,` 1920. serial rpm:-

" y .jtronrnno'nniriseniiit.'jv i Patented Feb. v22, 1921.

iro. 427,361.-

n 3.5.9 sothat 'the friction-in these boxes holds the `Be it known thatr l, WILLIAM Din'riiR, la

depth ei'iginev fast, and keeps the rudder in the position to which it was last turned, and if this happens to be a down rudder the torpedo is sui'e vto dive. Owing to this many -torpedoes have been lost.

llie present inventionseeks to overcome` this disadvantage 'by affording a prolonged supply of air `for the depth engine sufficient to, keepit-functioning long enough t0 enable it t 0 control the rudder untilt'he spasmodic actions due to *the pendulum movements h ave passed. This is accomplished by providing an air chamber between the'reducing valve and the depth engine, in whicha charge of compressed air is stored, which air serves to feed the depth engine after the'aii valve is closedv at the end of the run.

' The invention also includes a spring inlet valve to this chamber, the primary object ofv which-is to'act vas a `'check valve to prevent back-liow-from the chamber when the air supply valve is closed; a secondary object is to partlyv throttle the air and thereby reduce Vits pressiire,so that the depth engine, particularly at starting, will not be affected by too sudden an inrush of air. This reduction of pressure also effects economyk inthe expenditure of air.- y M Y he'4 invention Valso includes means for draining od*- from the vair chamber an water vwhich mayV accumulate therein rThe air chamber, with this provision, prevents waterbeing drivenover into thedepthf'en'- gine, which 'heretofore'` has sometimes occurred, and which results in deranging the performance of the depth engine.

\ The invention is shown in vits preferred embodiment in the accompanying drawings, wherein; Y Y

, Figure l is' a side elevation of the afterpart of a torpedo, partly in vertical midsection, the contained apparatus being shown in av diagrammatic arrangement, so that the relations of the parts may be seen;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section through Vthe air chamber on a larger scale, lin planes indicated by the line 2-2 in F ig. 3;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the air chamberl in a plane at right angles to Fig. 2, being on the line 3- 3 in Fig. 2.

Referring irstto Fig. l of the drawings, la.. is the .hull or shell of the torpedo, of which B is the compressed air flask 0r reservoir, Gis the starting valve,D is the vpressure reducing valve, and E, as a whole, is

A trolled in its movements both by the pendulum a and the diaphragm c in the usual manner. This control is commonly accomplished by mechanism which is hereshown d'iagrammatieally, the pendulum being con- .nected by a rod h to the lower arm of a lever z', the Vmiddle of which is connected by a link y' to an elbow lever lc pivoted at l and connected at m tothe diaphragm; the upper arm of lever z' is connected to the valve rod g. .It results that any movement ofV either vthe-pendulum `or diaphragm isv communicated tothe valve rod, so that if the longitudinal axis of the torpedo is otherwise than level, the effort of the pendulum is tov cause the depth engine to steer in such directionas to bring the torpedo to' a level; and if' the torpedo is above or below the set depth, the displacement of the diaphragm up or down acts to so operate the depth engine as to. tend to steer to la lower or hi her level until the proper depth is reaced. The internal piston or plunger of the depth engine is connected by a piston rod n and' connecting rod p with the tillerq of the rudder f in the usual manner.

. The compressed air from flask B is admitted through pipe 5 and, when the start-l ing valve C is open, through pipe 6to the reducing valve D, and the air under reduced lpressure is admitted through pipe 7 to the turbine or other engine for driving the tore' pedo (the driving mechanism not being shown). From the pipe 7 or other convenient means carrying air under reduced pressure-,fa pipe 8 is led which commonly communicates directly with the inlet 9 of the depth engine e. According to the present invention, however, an air chamber F is introduced in the pipe 8, the portion of the pipe leading from chamber F to inlet 9 being marked 10. y

The construction of chamber F is best shown in Figs. '2 and 3. rI`he air from pipe 8 enters at 11, forcing Vopen a spring-pressed valve '12,and passing up through tube 13 to the upper part of the chamber F. The valve 12 is suitably guided urpon its'y seat, bei ing pressed thereto by a spring 14 which re.- actsagainst a plug 15. which may be rev n' moved throughan opening 16 in the hull or shell A .of the torpedo to get access tothe valve'. The valve 12 serves not only as a exerts the vrequired stress against the valve-V 12. The valve 12v and Spring 14 are locatedl in a chamber 17 having from its upper'side an outlet through the tube A13, as stated.

rlhetube 13 projects up within the chamberV Y F high enough to be above any water which may by any possibility accumulate within the chamber during a run of the torpedo.

The chamber F is of suitable capacity to hold a suicient reserve of compressed air to supply the depth engine vwith air at suit.

able pressure suflicient to accomplish several ieversals of movement of the depth engine, so as to keepthie engine operative during the period of disturbance which occurs at the end of the run of the torpedo. In actual practice an air chamber having 'a diameter' of about two androne-half inches', and a length of about three and one-half inches,

will ordinarily suffice, these dimensions.

bein given merely as illustrative of one suita le size, it being understood that the chamber' maybe made of greater Vor smaller caplacity, as ex rience may determine.

' eietofor'e iihcnlty hassometimes been experienced by reason of water accompany.- ing. the'co'mpressd ait and being driven into the de thwhereby its perform-y ance. has come irregular.` This' diced vantage is overcome in the present invention by the introduction of the air chain-4 ber F, which serves as cpocket to receive any water, which eepcratesby gravity from the air; and by the rovision of means for draining this cham r It' 4the end of a factice so' as to free it from water beire the next rim. Such draining may. be accomplished by but is preferably done by eutomdicmeius'; and `for this pur-jf. pone adraisage verve 20 is provided, shown in Fig, 3, whxchconoets of a valve seating against a seat 21 It or near' the bottom Vof the chamber, his seat communicating through m internal passage with a drainage outlet 2Q. The valve has a .steam 93 that is pressed upward by a light spring QA housed in a chamber 96. During the 'run the compressed air admitted .to the chamber.

F holds this valve closed, so that neither air nor water om occupe. At the end of the run, however, when the air prestre falls, the apri 24 lifts the valve until by a pm 96 applied to the valve stem 23, or byvchy other appropriate stopping means, whereupon the accumulated water iows out through the outlet 22 into the torpedo body.

The construction shown and described is considered the preferable one for carrying out the invention, but obviously this construction may be greatly varied within the limits of practice, and the invention is to be understood as susceptible of any variation within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention l. In a torpedo .the comlbination with depth mechanism, including a depth engine and a source of compressed air for feeding such engine, of an air chamber introduced between such source and the inlet to the engine, adapted to Store compressed air sufiicient to` actuate the engine after the source of air is cut 0E. Y

2. The combination of claim 1,' with a check valve at the inlet of air to the air chamber for preventing back-flow therefrom.

3. The combination of claim 1, with a spring-pressed valve atithe inlet of air to the air chamber, whereby to reduce the presi sure of the air entering such chamber.

4. The combination of claim 1, the air chamber having means for introducing the air to its upper part, and having the outlet for air from its upper part, and a space beneath for receiving water, whereby any water is separated from the air.

5. The combination of claim 1, the air chamber having in its lower part means for draining off accumulated water therefrom.l

6. The combination of claim l, the air chamber having at its lower part an automatic drainage valve adapted to close under internal pressure, and having a spring to p open it when the pressure is relieved, whereby to drain off accumulated water.

In witness whereof, I have' hereuntol signed my name.

' WILLIAM DIETER. 

